


marauder mafia au

by Gracefanfics



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mafia AU, Peter is James's cousin, Remus is mouthy af, goth remus, poor parent child communication, remus's dad is a cop in the crime division
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:02:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8328961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gracefanfics/pseuds/Gracefanfics
Summary: The Potter and Black families are different mob families. Both are trying to run the same city. When James and sirius run into each other, they are looking for a fight, but never imaged they would be fast friends. Remus simply cannot help himself from mouthing off to both sides.  James and Sirius find it hilarious.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is not beta'd.  
> all characters belong to J. K Rowling  
> I will update when I have new material.

James ignored his rival's knife and lunged, tackling the dark hair teen to the ground. “ You fucked up, Black. “ he hissed. “The deal was going down on my family’s land.”   
This was becoming a way to common occasion , The Blacks popping up where they don't belong. And he would teach them a lesson this time. 

Sirius retaliated by slamming his head into Potter’s and shoving him off.   
“you wish Potter, everyone knows that this street is Black property due to the 15th clause in the 1972 christmas negotiation. Therefore…” 

James punched him before he could finish. 

It was Sirius’s turn to lunge for the other boy. James had pulled out his own knife as he fell. quickly moving it to slash wildly at The Black Heir. 

After a pause, Sirius sat back and made a mournful noise, that he would never admit too. “You cut my hair. “ 

James pushed himself up on his elbow and stared at the teen in disbelief. “Well I was aiming for yours stupid face. “

Sirius stared back in outrage.”Excuse you. My face is a glorious perfection and my hair was a gift from god. /was/ Potter. Because you ruined it. “ 

James found himself fighting laughter. How was this actually happening. “Well I think it is an improvement. “

Sirius looked James up and down in a judging manner. “Thats obviously an insult to your tastes. But I'm not surprised due to the state of your hair. “ 

James sat up all the way to defend his hair with just as much outrage as Black. “My hair is artfully tossed and the girls love it!” 

For a moment they both stared at each other before laughing.   
“Want to get a drink?” James offered, when they had both gotten their breath back. 

Sirius slipped back into his almost constant mask of haughtiness. “Our family would be displeased. “ He said carefully, thinking about how his mother would react if she found out. 

“Nah. Dad will find it funny and he still gets drinks with your head of house. “ James said casually while standing. After a moment of silence, James held his hand out to sirius. “Let's call a truce black and get a drink. “ 

A reckless feeling filled the boy still on the ground. He was already going to be in trouble with his family so why the hell not. Mind made up he clasped the offered hand and got up. “Sirius. if were getting drinks like friends. Then you can have the privilege of calling me Sirius. “ 

James grinned at him. “James. Now. Are we going to one of yours or one of mine?”


	2. the morning after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still un beta'd  
> still belongs to J.K Rowling.   
> I am adding all my chapters tonight. but after today, I will update when I have new material.

They ended up going to a bar in potter territory, determining that it was the safer option. James was all messy hair, mused clothes not caring he was still covered in dust and dirt from the fight. He was all open smiles and friendly greetings for his underlings. 

Sirius by contrast excused himself to the bathroom to clean up immediately after James declared it was safe for sirius to be there and didn’t emerge till everything was perfect and his mask was firmly in place. 

As the night drew on, the two heirs made a game of making up the most ridiculous dares for each other, sirius made a point to show nothing of his amusement except for a wicked smirk. James had no problem laughing at his guest and at himself and sirius had never wanted for anything as much as he wanted to be able to laugh openly like that. 

According to the rules they agreed on, before they could dare the other, they had to finish their drink first. Who ever couldn't finish their drink and then give a dare, or if either of them could not come up with a new dare, then that person lost. 

They always tried to out do each other. It had started off with small dares, like I dare you to chug your drink, or I dare you to dance on the table for five minutes. fun things that were to be used as friendly teasing (blackmail) later on. as the night wore on, the dares got progressively worse. Ranging from public nudity to starting fires. 

By the end of the night, James and Sirius had caused mayhem across the city. And had become best friends.   
/////////////////////////////////

Sirius groaned as he woke up and only managed to open his eyes to the bare minimum. He and James had drunk most of the night away and at a some point he forgot what had happened because he was lying on the floor in an unfamiliar room , tangled in blankets. It took a minute before he could think past the pounding in his head but once he did he could hear someone chatting happily in the other room and decided that it had to be James, as he was describing the fight from the night before. The teen sat up slowly and bit down on the curses threatening to spill out when his eyes finally focused. He had never intended for his family to find out. Let alone his grandfather, who was sitting on a couch with a concealed look of disappointment written over his features. His parents were going to kill him. The other man, he assumed was James's father, looked amused. The bastard. 

"ah sirius." his grandfather greeted him, interrupting his new friend's chatter. "now that you have joined us, we will take our leave" 

Sirius winced as the head of his family ice cold tone and even colder glare. he was so very dead.


	3. the agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still not beta'd  
> characters still belong to J.K.R   
> the point of view switches btw.   
> and remus makes an appearance

It was two months since Sirius had been out of his family's town house and he was going insane. The teen carefully smoothed out his fine clothes so that they hid the still healing bruises. It might have been his grandfather who got him in trouble for spending the night drinking with James. But he was also the reason he was being let out. Sirius was still trying to deicide if he was going to continue resenting the elder man or not. But he was now getting to leave because apparently his grandfather thought it was time he sat in on meetings so he could learn how to run the family business. Or some similar bullshit.

Sirius carefully made his way down the steps with grace that had been quite literally beaten into him to where his mother was waiting by the door, key in hand, eyebrow raised as she waited for him to recite the rules. Carefully he took a breath to calm himself and hide his hurt and rage that his parents had done this to him again.   
“I will not shame the black family while out. I will act as appropriate as befitting my station. I will not embarrasse grandfather. I will not speak to heir potter.” The last one was a new one. And one he would probably break. He quickly hurried on at the look his mother was gaining. “And there are many attempts on my life. I am lucky I have such loving parents and it was wrong to make them worry by not coming home.” Sirius finished. 

his mother regarded him for a moment before turning and unlocking the door and finally, FINALLY sirius was free. He wasted no time sliding into his grandfather's car, wanting to be as far away from this house as possible. But. the family came first. The family image always came first and so sirius would play the good son and kept his mask of indifference firmly on his face. 

Sirius raised an eyebrow but said nothing as the car crossed into potter territory. His grandfather ignored him.   
////////////////   
Sirius didn't pay attention to the meeting. The heads had some complicated ritual that only made sense to them. It involved drinks and insulting each other slyly. The meeting continued for hours. And as far as Sirius could tell, nothing was actually being said, until Head Potter, brought out a piece of paper that after even more small talk, both signed. 

James spent the entire meeting trying with increasing dramatics, to catch his eye. Sirius kept his grey eyes trained on the wall. and with every minute that passed, he could feel his heart cracking. James was the only person he considered a friend. and now he was on orders to ignore him, on pain of death. 

Apparently since no one could agree who owned Claremont st. the two families would be patrolling it together. Always with James and sirius present and with three other members of each household.

Before Sirius could join the others on patrol, His grandfather pulled him aside.   
"Just because The Potter's are the enemy, does not mean you can be rude. " he stared hard at Sirius, "Ignore their heir is rude. I except better from you." he didn't wait for Sirius's response. which was probably a good thing. He might have done something truly reckless if his grandfather had waited. like hug him or something. Sirius didn't even have time to process the fact that his head of the family was contradicting his mother, because the moment he left, James came bouncing up to him.   
"you've been ignoring me."  
sirius smirked at him, the closest he was allowed to a smile   
"have you missed me?" he teased. James punched his arm in response.   
"Course not you tosser."   
the went off to patrol down the street, bantering and ignoring their guards. 

////////////////////  
Remus Point Of view. 

Remus did not care that two gang were fighting over Claremont. He did not care. He did not care that there was more than a likely chance of getting caught. He did not care that his father , who was the leading police officer going after the gangs got pictures and video of him getting beat up. He had gotten good at ignore the guilt and even better at not getting caught. He had learned the patrols schedule for the most part and was only getting caught about once a month now. Instead of every other day like it first was. 

Then things changed. Instead of one or two thugs at the end of the street. There was a squad of them on alert, from both gangs. It looked like there was at eight of them. Remus was so. So fucked.


	4. the first time remus is kidnapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stuff belongs to J.K.R   
> this is a longer one that is mostly dialog between Remus, Sirius, and James.

James frowned at the lanky teen with sandy hair. He pulled the patrol to the stop. “Hey pete is that one of ours? “ he didn’t recognize him from any of his dad teachings. Peter shook his head. “We don’t have him down for anything.” James turned to sirius “one of yours? “   
Sirius turned questioningly towards his guards, like he would ever bother with such a menial task.   
The black family representatives took a look at the teen in question and cursed before explaining “He must be some kind special stupid, that’s the lupin copper kid. Refuses to pay restitution to either family when he’s using what is ours. We catch every few weeks or so. Last couple times we’ve even set videos of him paying to his dad. Doesn’t seem to make a difference. Thing is, is he only visits the old bookshop on the corner. “   
James ran his hand through his hair, reluctantly impressed with the teens nerve. After all the use of the bookshop was only a couple quid. Nothing even remotely worth the pain that comes with defying either family.   
“We’ve had problems with him every few weeks too. “ some of his own people spoke up. “ even let frank have a go at him last time. “   
James whistled. Frank, while being a genuine nice guy was his enforcer and hell with a knife. James was surprised the guy was still standing. Even more surprised his dad let him out on his own.   
“Let’s go say hello lads. “ for once the house potter and the house black were in agreement.   
/////////////

Remus stopped walking as the group approached. He watch as the thugs stayed behind and the two in front approached him. One with high cheekbones and long black hair, the other had glasses and messy hair . the teen leaded against the brick wall behind him and crossed his arms, scowling as he reminded himself that it didn’t matter how pretty they were, they were still going to beat him up. He knew the drill by now. 

“So I hear that you’re a complete idiot. “ the one with the glasses proclaimed in greeting.   
“So I hear you’re an absolute ponce.” Remus replied sarcastically. Fuck. why? Why did he alway do this. He was dead. He was going to die.   
James stared at him in shock, too surprised to be angry. Yet. “want to run that by me again?”   
Remus shrugged. “If you didn’t want to be called a ponce maybe you should reconsider cornering people so that they can give you money for walking down the street. “  
“That’s hardly the same thing as prostitution!”  
“Really? What are they people officially paying you for?”   
“Protection!”  
“So. you are selling the protection you can give, officially. So it could be taken that you are selling your strength, your body if you will. Ergo , a ponce. “ remus held his breath. Waiting for something to hit him, or a knee to his stomach. Something painful was certainly coming. He had just called a heir a ponce. He was going to die. He did not suspect the heir to throw back his head and laugh. “Thinks he’s clever doesn’t he, sirius? “   
Sirius smirked, hiding his amusement. “A clever idiot.”   
“Talking about yourself are you?” Remus asked before he could stop himself.   
“I like him. “ James declared. And pulled him away from the wall. “I’m James, that is sirius. You’re going to join us.”  
“What? The hell I am!” Remus yelped as James grabbed his wrist, sirius quickly caught on and grabbed the other one, both of them dragging him down the street to join the others.   
One of the potters raised an eyebrow “want me to send for frank boss?”   
James shook his head ‘nah. Lupins kid is alright. I like him.”   
Everyone shared a look, they had found lupin rude and mouthy. And both the black and potter guards wondered what the fuck was going on.   
“This is peter. “ James nodded to a blond teen with intelligent blue eyes. “Peter this is…” James paused, realized he didn’t know lupins name and turned to ask him. “He lupin, what’s your name?”   
Remus , who was still waiting for an opportune moment to bolt. Stared at the messy haired boy like he was insane but after a moment gave in and muttered “remus. “   
James nodded. “Pete this is remus. Remus this is my cousin peter. And the boy with the ugly black hair is is sirius. The rest of you can take a walk.”   
Sirius made a sound of outrage. “Rude potter. My hair is a gift from god. And you are incredibly jealous that i look better than you.”   
The potter guards hesitated for a moment before slowly bowing and turning away. The black guards stayed where they were. Sirius raised an eyebrow at them “why are you still here. Get lost.” 

“Sir…”one spoke up before hesitating , not wanting to gain his heir’s wrath. “Your family…”   
Sirius cut him off in a cold voice that promised danger if not heeded. “My grandfather has asked me to spend the day with the potter heir. My mother and father do not have a say in this. “   
“Yes , sir. “ he mumbled, bowed and quickly lead the others off before the heir could inflict his rage. 

Remus watch the men cower and bow. “ wow. Should I be impressed by your all consuming power. Should I bow and thank you for kidnapping me.”   
James laughed again. “if you like. But it's not required. “   
“like hell it isn't. I expect bowing and thanks every hour. “   
“well maybe James here will cater to your whims. “ Remus tried to pull free but Sirius tightened his hold while James let go throw an arm over his shoulder. “so why do you keep coming down here anyway?”   
“I like the book shop. Best I've ever seen. “   
Sirius shared a look with James. The two were becoming fast friends despite having only one other positive interaction. “looks like we've got are self a class a nerd Jamie. “   
“so it does, Sirius , so it does. What do we propose we do about it. “   
“well Jamie. I propose…”   
Remus cut him off. “ I propose, If I may your majesties, that you fuck off so I can read about religion theory in a dusty Conor in peace. “  
Sirius whistled. “Jamie . The bookworm called us magisties . I knew we were all powerful. But not kings . “   
“neither did I Sirius my dear. But I propose we get the nerd good and wasted to celebrate our new status as kings. “   
Remus groaned. “I have created a monster. And I am not going to have drinks with you too. In no small part because it's illegal. “   
“I have no doubt we will convince you.  
“Go fuck yourself your majesty. Besides. It’s illegal. i ‘m not 21 yet. And I doubt either of you are as well.  
“See. it’s not illegal if we say you can have one.”  
“You see remus, we are kings of this city ..” Sirius teased him.   
Remus groaned. “You’re never going to let the royalty thing go are you? “   
“Never.” They both agreed together. 

James and sirius began leading him over to a car causing remus to try and struggle. The last time he had been shoved into a car he had met the potter’s enforcer and he had no desire of a repeat. But it quickly became pointless as, sirius and James shoved him into the car. Sirius slide in after and closed the door, James would get in on the other side. Their guards would patrol the street till they were called home.   
“My place? “ James asked as he slid in and at sirius’s nod, told the driver.   
Remus glared at both of them. “Really? Really?! When I said kidnap, I did not mean literally!”   
“Course. “ James shrugged, “how else were we supposed to get you to have that drink. “  
“I’m not having any drinks”   
“We will convince you.” Sirius replied confidently.   
“Yup. not going to leave you alone till we get you absolutely smashed. “  
///////////  
When they reached the potter manner, sirius once more grabbed remus’s wrist and yanked. James placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed his “guest” the rest of the way out of the car.   
Remus bit back a groan, and tried to hid a wince, still sore from his last encounter with the mob.   
James was quick to grab remus’s other wrist and lead him into the house. “Mom! “ he called out. “We have guest. “  
“I am not your guest , “ remus protested as a short, older lady with black hair came into the welcoming room. “You kidnapped me. “   
“Who’s this then, James? Your friends?”   
“Yep, you remember sirius don’t you? “   
“How could I forget. “   
Sirius gave mrs. potter a charming smile. “It’s so nice to be back in your lovely home and company, my lady.”   
Mrs. potter laughed. “I see the black mannerism hasn’t changed at all. “   
“No ma’am. The blacks are very set in our ways. “   
“Im quite aware. Who’s this then?”   
“This here is remus. We rescued him from the incredibly dull afternoon of reading in some bookshop.   
“Kidnap. The term you are looking for is kidnap. “   
Mrs.potter gave James a mock scolding look. “James. We talked about you kidnapping people when you brought the black heir home. “   
“Aw but mom, sirius didn't mind. And remus won’t either.”  
“I very much do mind!” Remus protested.   
“Yah, right now. Give it some time though and you’ll be thanking me. “   
“I highly doubt that. “   
“Right well, we will see after we get a few drinks in you. “   
“If you give me alcohol, I will pour it on your head.”   
Mrs. potter watched the banter for a few minutes, “I think this is where I take my leave. Try to behave boys. “  
“Aw mom, I thought you knew me better than that. Why would you even ask that?”   
“I have hope James. “ she replied dryly before leaving.   
“Come on Jamie boy, show me your room this time instead of dumping my on your sitting room floor.”   
“Hey, it’s not my fault, you got drunk. “  
“Yes it is!”   
“Not my fault you are a light weight and just for that, remus is my new best friend. “   
“As best friend status I demand you take me home.”   
James stopped his retort when he registered how serious the other boy sounded. He thought about for the first time, what this must have been like for remus, now that he looked , he could see how stiffly he was holding himself, and could see the bruises that decorated his skin where the clothes ended. James abruptly let go of remus’s wrist. “Alright, we’ll take you home.”   
Sirius followed his friend's lead and let go as well.   
James gestured somewhat awkwardly at the door “yah alright. I guess”   
Remus let out a relieved sigh when they let go and agreed to take him home. “Thanks. “ he replied just as awkwardly, now that they weren’t sassing each other. And headed for the door. 

Once everyone was in the car, James asked for his address and had his driver take him there. 

//////////  
Once they pulled up to the house, ames stopped remus from getting out of the car.”listen remus, I wasn’t joking about liking you. You have quite the mouth on you and your funny. So we probably will be seeing you around. But I’ll try not to kidnap you again.” 

Remus was understandably weary when the messed haired boy stopped him, but they had taken him home and they were the mob so it wasn’t like he had much of a choice but to listen. “That...started out so well. It almost sounded like an apology. Or an explanation at the very least. “ he shook his head in mock disappointment, causing sirius to let out a bark like laughter.   
“He’s got you there James. “   
“Yah whatever, I see how it is, ganging up on me.and after all i’ve done for you. Why don’t you just leave. “ James reacted dramatically.   
“That was the plan.” Remus retorted and got out, trying to ignore the sickening feeling that filled him when he saw his dad was home. How the fuck was he supposed to explain to his dad why he was claiming out of what was clearly a mob car. Slamming the door and squaring his shoulders he went to face the maker. 

James and sirius were quiet for a long moment as the car pulled away. “Did you see the bruises?”  
“Yah.”


	5. messing with classmates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> characters still and always will belong to J.K.R 
> 
> I am not even trying to edit this. have fun. 
> 
> sorry if the remus's parents yelling at him was in the last chapter as well as this chapter.

Remus stayed quiet as his dad screamed himself hoarse about the mob and reputation and how could he be so stupid. After his dad became quiet. Remus glared at him and said in a low voice.”I wasn’t there willingly. They kidnapped me.” It was by far the most hurtful thing he could say to his parents, seeing how a different mob, that had since been whipped out, had kidnapped him when he was six. An incident that had left both mental and physical scars. An incident that was indirectly his father’s fault. But remus didn’t care in that moment, he was too keyed up from the day’s events and then from his father yelling at him for the past half hour to care. The teen brushed past his parents and hurried up to his room. The quiet click of his door shutting, echoing in a way that slamming it could never achieve. 

After he had left the room his dad collapsed into the chair and buried his head in his hands. His mother didn’t even try to stop the tears from coming.   
///////////////////////////////

A week past before remus saw the two heirs again. And this time they showed up at his school. They were sitting on the low wall that marked the perimeter of the school grounds. They had apparently been sitting there for most of the day.   
Remus when he came out for lunch, didn’t see the two black haired boys, even with the one with messy hair waving excitedly at him. Remus was weaving his way through the crowd with expert ease to what was largely considered his table, his nose in a book. 

Remus , for the most part , encouraged the isolation at school and so didn’t mind when nobody sat with him. He found that people tend to start asking questions if they thought he would answer. Which he was very determined not to do. So he was understandably surprised when a pale hand grabbed and tossed his book.   
“What the fuck?” Remus almost shouted and looked up only to be met with sirius black and James potter.   
“Wow you are a nerd. This dork. “Sirius pointed to James “was waving at you like a maniac for almost ten minutes, it caused quite the scene. “   
Remus’s eyes widened and he looked around to find most of his class watching, their interest was practically palpable.   
“Are you insane.” Remus hissed at them. “You can’t be here. They’ll think i’m in the mob! And what are you doing here anyway?”   
“We told you we’d see you around. “  
“This was the only way we could come up with that didn’t involve kidnapping you. “   
“Yes thank you so much for the consideration. But if people think i’m in the mob , then it will ruin my dad’s career! You need to leave. “   
“Sheesh alright, you’d think you’d be more grateful for our company. “ sirius snapped back. They had been looking forward to getting to know this boy and were trying to be nice to him.   
James was pouted , genuinely hurt at the fact that maybe this boy didn’t want to be his friend.   
Remus hissed out another insult before realizing that they were hurting at his rejection and spent a couple minutes trying to convince himself that he didn’t care. It was quickly becoming a lost cause. And wouldn’t it be so much fun to fuck with his classmates heads?   
“Fine.” he sighed finally but then raised his voice enough so that his classmates could clearly hear. “But with the condition that it is understood this is 100% against my free will. “   
James , who had at first perked up at remus agreeing, blinked in confusion.   
Sirius tilted his head not unlike a puppy but noticed that the other students were still watching them. And quickly caught on.   
“Oh we understand perfectly, don’t we Jamie boy. But i’m so glad we could convince you without getting our hands dirty. We would so hate to ruin perfection. “   
James who had caught on by now, stood “ if you would come with us now, we can settle this business without any more...collateral damage. “   
The other two stood and sirius placed a hand on remus’s back in a way that made people think it was there to stop remus from running. 

All three boys just barely made it out of hearing distance before cracking up with laughter.   
“That was brilliant. “ James gasped. “Omg. we are so showing up to your school all the time now.”   
Remus groaned. “What have I done? I regret everything.”   
James slung an arm around remus’s shoulders and laughed. “Come on Remmy. We promise to have you back by your last class and in the meantime you can tell us all about you.”   
“Remmy? Really that’s what you’re going with? And that’s definitely not going to happen. And I have class in thirty minutes and we will be back here by then. “   
Sirius almost looped an arm around remus’s waist, wanting to be free to act how he wanted like Jamie but resisted. It wasn’t proper of a black. Especially the black heir, he thought with disgust. Momentarily stunned with the hate that welled up within him, the more time he spent with James, the more he was becoming aware of how despicable his family was. Sirius settled for crossing his arms as he walked towards the car.   
“If you want to be back in an half hour, then you’ll have to pay with personal information. “ he told him, causing the other teen to groan once more.   
once they were settled in the car James indicated the boy with pale blond hair. “You remember Petey. Don’t you Remus?”   
“Peter.” the boy corrected automatically as if this is always what happened when he was introduced.  
“Pete.” James replied, as if negotiating his cousin’s name before clapping his hands. “I have an idea!”   
“Care to share with the class Jamie?”   
Peter sat up, excited, James’s ideas were always the best.  
“Should I be worried?”   
“We take turns asking each other questions and if we refuse to answer, then the others can dare the person being questioned to do something and they can’t refuse. “   
“So truth or dare.” Sirius stated   
“Not really, it’s more like truth or truth with consequences. Oh! And you’re not allowed to repeat dares. “   
“Yep. definitely worried. “ remus vowed to himself to never answer a question, just to spite them.   
“Right, hey driver! “ James called up to the front. “Drive us around for the next twenty minutes then bring us back here. I’ll start. Remus, why were you sitting alone?”   
“Dare.”  
“What? “  
“I’ll take the dare.” The other three stared at him for a moment before James handed him noise canceling headphones. “Put these on while we come up with something. “   
Remus raised an eyebrow at him, tempted to argue that the demand that he wear the headphones was a dare in itself but decided against it, wanting to see what they would come up with and put them on without arguing. The other three leaned forward and whispering together trying to come up with something that would be bad enough so that the boy wouldn’t want to risk not answering their questions again. Finally coming up with something, James singled the driver “pull over somewhere crowded. “ when the car had stopped, James took off the headphones and opened the door to a crowded square. “You have to sing for the next three minutes in front of these people. “ he explained before pushing remus out the open door. Remus stumbled for a moment before catching his balance and looking around and began to quietly sing a Scottish drinking song that his parents and friends were found of, just loud enough for the boys in the car to hear if they were really quiet. When the three minutes were up he slide back into the car to face the outraged faces. He smirked at them. “You never said how loud I had to sing. “   
“You cheating bastard. “ sirius declared, but he was smirking back at remus, amused and slightly impressed how he had gotten out of the public humiliation.   
“My turn then. “ remus tapped his fingers on his thigh in thought. “Peter, tell us something James doesn’t want us to know. “   
peter got a wicked grin on his face as he thought of an answer.   
“Don’t you dare peter! “ James shouted, but it was too late, nothing was going to stop from peter answering.   
“James slept with a night light until he was eleven. “   
James groaned and buried his head in his hands.   
Sirius couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. Remus had a hand curled around his mouth as he tried to hid his laughter, more amused by James’s reaction then the information.   
“God lupin, you don’t pull your punches and here I was going to go easy on you. “ remus shot him a smug look, “why would you do that?”   
“Alright fine, you’ve just declared war.”   
“My turn, sirius, how did you and James become friends? He won’t tell me. “   
Sirius shrugged that was an easy one. “He damaged my hair and then got me drunk. “   
“God Damnit sirius! I had him thinking it was a battle of epic proportions that brought us together as we fought out a new family!”   
“Are you saying that damaging my hair is not worth of an epic battle? You’re lucky I didn’t skin you alive Potter!  
“As if you could!”   
“Are you challenging me potter? “   
Remus sensing that this wasn’t about to end decided to add his own comments. “You could say it’s a sirius problem. “ both of them froze and stared at remus.   
“Did you just...make a serious pun?” Sirius asked. Remus pretended to be engrossed with a stray thread on his sweater “maybe. Do you think I did?”   
James opened and closed his mouth a couple times before letting it go. “Sirius it’s your turn. “   
“Jamie I need a completely honest answer because I’m worried about you. “  
“Just ask you’re fucking question Black. “   
“Does your mom pick out your clothes?”   
James sat back against his seat and crossed his arms pouting. “My mom has excellent taste in clothes. “ his response drew forth another round of laughter, but before any other questions could emerge, the driver stopped the car and informed them that they were back at the school. Remus got out of the car and before he could stop himself waved goodbye. By the time he walked into the class he was ten minutes late and one of the more annoying girls, who was feeling vengeful at his refusal to acknowledge her, had informed the teacher that he was part of the mafia.


	6. remus angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still and always belongs to J.K.R   
> still not even making an effort to edit this. let alone get it beta'd  
> enjoy remus's inner thoughts

Five weeks had past since James and sirius had showed up at his school. The boys made a habit of turning up at least twice a week on different days of the weeks to “force “ remus to “do a job for them” and in that time remus had managed to avoid answering every single question the three asked of him. 

if remus was being honest with himself the times he spent with the other boys were some of the best afternoons in his life. It certainly did not help that his house was becoming increasingly stifling and his relationship with his parents become more and more awkward. They simply refused to see him as anything but the weak, injured child they got back from The Fenrir mob. And remus understood, he did. But it was a life time ago and he had been completely healed for years. And if he was in constant danger from heat stroke became he refused to wear anything but his sweaters to cover up the scars , well that was his problem. 

It was this strained relationship ,plus the fact that the boys had not been by since the beginning of the week that lead to remus being more irritable than normal. So when a group of kids, who were not his friends, sat down worryingly close to remus, boxing him in he did not react well. Instead of burying himself further in his book he looked up and glared. “What?” He asked harshly.   
“We were just wondering what black and potter saw in you, a sweater wearing nerd?” Asked the biggest one.   
“None of your fucking business. “ remus replied. “And what do my sweaters have to do with anything?” Remus was rather fed up with people commenting on his sweaters. As it was now may, it was apparently “unacceptable” to be wearing sweaters and many well meaning and not so well meaning people had commented on it. One of his teachers had the nerve to offer him a short sleeve shirt the other day.   
“Chill lupin, we’re just chatting.”  
“Well I’m not. So fuck the hell off.”   
“Careful lupin, that’s quite the mouth you have on you , for someone who still gets walked home by mommy and daddy. “  
Remus flushed at his words, it was his first year since he had been kidnapped that his parents had agreed to not homeschool him. The bigger boy carried on , enjoying the embarrassment he was causing. “Do they know you’re involved with the mob? Daddy can’t be proud of that. “ luckily the bell rang and remus was able to storm off which saved him the trouble of punching the guy. Lucky, school was almost out of the year and he wouldn’t have to put up with this bullshit for a couple months. A part of remus was worried that James and Sirius had grown tired of him. He tried to ignore it but with each passing day it was harder. This was the longest he had gone without seeing them since they had met. And as much as Remus would deny it, he considered the two other boys, Well, three if you count Peter, his closest friends. A summer grew closer, Remus worried what they were going to do in the summer? It’s not like they could stroll up to his house. Not with his dad’s work.   
Well. that only mattered if the other teenagers had not grown tired of him. Maybe he should have given them a bone and stop pretending that he didn’t want them to know about himself. It was probably too late to fix now.


	7. what sirius has been doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> characters are j.k.r the plot line is mine.   
> this is supper fucking short. enjoy the single paragraph of a chapter

Sirius was absolutely miserable. He didn’t care that he was sulking and that it wasn’t proper for the heir black to sulk. His family had decided to have everyone over for the week. Every single deranged and twisted family member at his house. He had spent the better part of the past five weeks with James and peter. Forcing remus to join them every couple days. Five weeks he had spent unlearning everything his family had beaten into him as the correct and proper way to behave. And now, that he was aware of exactly how horrid his family’s values were it was even hard to take part of the family gathering than normal. It didn’t help that his insane mother had been worse since grandfather had encouraged him to be friends with James. Luckily it was Friday and then he could go back to the potters and live how he wanted to. Another day, trapped here, and he might have resorted to gouging out his eyes.


	8. james has a plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> marauders are J.K.R  
> another ridiculous short chapter!  
> I am out of material. I will update whenever I write more of it.

James was bored , bored , bored. Peter was great. He had been his closest friend before he met sirius. But it wasn’t the same without the other boys. Something just clicked when they were together. Like the four of them were meant to be friends. Oh remus hadn’t said anything but he had stopped most of his protests after the third week. And James was going to count that as a win. Being separated was torture. It’s why he had come up with a proposal for his parents, they wouldn’t like it. But he sure his arguments were sound and well reasoned plus his parents gave him everything he wanted so he wasn’t worried that they would veto it. He couldn’t wait to see remus’s face when he found out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter is mostly dialog.   
> more notes at the end.

Late that friday night sirius slipped out of his house and made his way to the potter house. 

As soon as he arrived (escorted by one of the goons that had caught him in the potter territory. Which seriously? It had been weeks since he started hanging out with James. How did they not get that by now?) James practically tackled him before he had even gotten his shoes off.   
“Guess what!” he exclaimed.   
“Uh.. you’ve lost what little sense you had left?”  
James punched him in the arm. “Rude. We both know I’ve got more sense than you ever will. But that's not important. I talk to my parents and they're going to talk to your grandfather and were going to be enrolled in Remus’s school!” 

“Getting enrolled in public school is the cause for your excitement?”

James frowned and took a step back, so he wasn’t hanging off his friend. “Are you okay? I thought you’d be excited? We get to hang out all day with remus and each other. And this is a great opportunity to make connections to further the family's. “

Sirius felt a confusing mix of feelings well up inside him. It wasn’t fair that James got to live like this. Free. and caring about whoever he wanted...caring about Sirius. Speaking of James, Sirius’s lack of response was causing increasing concern. Better fix that. It wouldn’t do for his friend to find out what the blacks were like.   
Sirius forced himself to smirk and punch james in the arm. “Hell yah. Oi Jamie boy, imagine the look on Remmy’s face when he finds out.”  
James looked like he wanted to push for a moment before shaking it off and slung an arm around sirius’s shoulders. “Truly, sirius lad, it’ll be a work of art.”  
/////////  
Tuesday morning started off normal for remus. Truly. He ignored his father as he dropped him off at school under the guise of being engrossed in a book. It was astonishing, even after all these years, how much remus could get away with if people thought he really just liked to read. He ignored the other students as they took their seats. And as his teacher gave the morning announcements.   
It wasn't until a sharp call of “Mr. Lupin.” caught his attention that his day. And consequently his life went sideways.   
“Mr. lupin. Class has started and we have new students. Put the book away, please.”   
Remus was too busy gaping at the mob heirs at the front of the room to actually comply with what his teacher asked but the was definitely paying attention.   
“Boys you may continue. “  
“Thank you ma’am. “ Sirius smiled sweetly at the teacher   
“Yah now that some people have decided to pay attention.” James sent a mock glare at remus who scowled back. “I’m James. And this dolt “ he pointed to Sirius. “ is Sirius.”  
“What he meant to say” Sirius interrupted, leaning in front of James “is that my better half Is sirius. Hello” he waved.   
“As if.” james scoffed and playfully pushed his friend.   
“That’s enough boys. “ the teacher interrupted. “Take a seat.”   
Both of them approached the seats nearest remus. “you're in our seats. “ sirius told the two boys sitting next to him. Both of them seemed to get a glint in their eyes as they leaned forward menacingly. The two were quick to scramble into empty seats in the back.   
Remus ignored the lecture his teacher was starting to question his friends.   
“What are doing here?” he hissed.   
“Going to school.” James replied easily.   
“Yah remmy keep up.” Sirius added.   
/////

Remus warred with himself for the rest of the morning. On one hand, he had missed the boys much more then he would ever admit. On the other, they were now going to his school. In his every class. And oh god. What was his dad going to say? 

Every class. Sirius and James would do a similar introduction, and then proceed to scare whoever was sitting next to him into giving up their seats. Remus, for his part, kept his nose buried in his book, so he could try and deal with how he felt about this new development. Because of this, he missed the increasingly hurt and worried faces his friends exchanged throughout the day. It wasn’t until part way through lunch when Sirius snapped that Remus even realised something was wrong.   
“Look Lupin. If you hated us this much, you could have said something a couple weeks ago.”   
Remus looked up sharply. “What?”  
They exchanged a look. “Well it's just…” James started to explain. “It’s been awhile since we saw each other.   
“A week.” remus interjected. As if it wasn’t an incredibly agonizing week filled with self doubt.   
“And you haven't said more than five words to us all day.”  
Remus opened his mouth to defend himself, for some reason unwilling to admit that he had missed them. He was just reading! But then he saw the hurt written clearly across James’s face and how stiffly sirius was sitting, with his arms crossed.   
Remus hesitated a moment. “ truth or dare.”  
“What? “ James asked baffled.   
“ This is hardly the time, Lupin. We’re pouring our hearts out here.” Sirius retorted.   
Remus took another breath. “ Ask me.” he demanded.   
“Truth or dare.” James muttered after a moment.   
“Truth.” Remus answered, determinedly.   
Both their heads shot up. “But you never go for truth!” James exclaimed.   
“Well. I have to keep you guessing some how. “ Remus joked   
“Well I’m certainly not going to waste this chance.” Sirius sassed back “So Lupin. What the hell?”  
Remus took a minute to fiddle with his book. Trying to decide what to say. “Well. you lot haven’t been around, have you. I have to find my entertainment somewhere. “ he tapped his book. And while the two of them were starting to relax, they didn’t look like they bought it. Remus offered them a smile. “It was a long week.”   
After a moment the two shared a look and grinned at the sandy haired boy. “So Remmy. “ Remus groaned at the nickname. “Is this going to be a regular thing? You telling us stuff about yourself and your feelings?” Sirius asked.  
Remus kicked him and rolled his eyes “I won’t hold your breath if I was you. James truth or dare?”   
“Dare.” James answered, while sharing a grin with his friends. Yah this was the best idea ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> characters are not mine.   
> chapter not beta'd 
> 
> I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter. mainly because it's been forever since I worked on this. next up, Remus's dad will discover that the mob heir's are his son's school. 
> 
> updates, like always come are sporadic at best. 
> 
> let me know what you think about this chapter. I'm seriously not loving it. :/


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School has ended which means updates!! 
> 
> nothing is edited. sorry not sorry.

James and Sirius were already in the classroom when Remus stormed in. And immediately started banging his book against his head. Luckily the classroom was mostly empty. Before either could ask if Remus had lost his mind, he spoke “the next person who asks why I wear sweaters. I'm going to deck them!”  
The sandy haired boy glared at his friends. Daring one of them to ask.  
“Why do you wear them?” Sirius asked without hesitation.  
Remus kicked the chair he was leaning back on, causing it to fall with a loud crash.  
“How dare you attack your king!” Sirius exclaimed after he was done moaning his pain.  
James the bastard was laughing. “He did warn you!”  
Sirius in retaliation pulled james’s chair off balance. Causing him to also fall on the floor.  
Remus laughed at both of them and continued laughing when the teacher walked in on them wrestling and gave them a detention.  
////  
“Okay. but seriously. What’s the with the sweaters. “ sirius asked again once they had slipped away from lunch. After remus had punched a different kid in the nose when he mockingly asked the same thing. Unfortunately the teacher had walked out in that moment. Which is how Remus would be joining his friends in detention after school. He would have to explain it to his parents when they came. God wouldn’t that be a fun conversation. 

“Dare.” Remus replied automatically. It was james who shoved him that time. 

“Lay off remmy. You seem really worked up about this. “  
“So?” he responded accompanied by the usual amount of sarcasm.  
“Soo” sirius dragged out the word. “That means it’s important to you. “  
James continued the thought, as was their usual way. Always finishing each other's conversations. Tag teaming their intended victim. “Which means you need to tell us. “ 

The statement earned an eyeroll. “I do not need to tell you anything. I wear sweaters. So what?” 

James scowled at him, while sirius pushed him. “Yah. yah. You like your secrets. We’ll figure it out.” 

“Bet that you won’t.” Remus challenged. And then instantly regretted it. Why. why. Did this always happen. Why couldn’t just for once remus not say something that would get him into trouble. Just one time. Once. that’s all. Was that too much to ask? It was not to be. Sirius and james had an all too familiar glint in their eyes. 

“And if we do find out?” 

“You’ll know another fact about me?”

“That’s not how this works!” james exclaimed. “You made a bet. Remmy! Which means we get something if we win.” 

“And you will.” remus agreed solemnly before adding after a moment. “A fun fact about me. “ 

As always. Sarcastic responses earned playful shoves. It was so easy to forget what a danger these boys were. To everything.


	11. a new look

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates yay!! 
> 
> characters belong to JKR. 
> 
> as always nothing is edited. 
> 
> where should I go with this next? I'm thinking james and sirius conspiring to discover what is going on, but before anything gets figured out shit happens with Sirius's family.

The next Saturday Remus slipped out early in the morning before his parents woke up. Leaving a note that said. Out walking. And headed towards his book store. He supposed he could just text his friends and he would get there just fine. But a deep seated part of him rebelled against that. He would not be so dependent on the generosity of future mob bosses, even if they were his friends now. 

Part way through the walk to the bookstore, Remus was pulled out of his thoughts by something out of the corner of his eye a store painted black. With a sign thrift for goths. That was...an interesting idea. No one questioned goth kids why they wore long sleeves in the summer. Remus loved his sweaters. But...maybe. Maybe he could just try this new look. Maybe it would be worth. To be able to get some fucking peace once in awhile. 

Mind made up Remus marched into the store. He wasn't overly surprised when the young clerk looking bored out of her mind. Ducking his head as he past, not risking a chance of seeing a judging look on her face. He had enough of people judging him, Remus headed deeper into the shop, looking for a new outfit. 

 

 

He did not avoid the fight with his parents when he returned. Both about his new look. And about leaving the house without them. It was getting harder and harder to remember they had a good reason to worry with every argument. He didn't want to hate them. He didn't. 

////////

Remus ignored his gocking classmates. He was happy with his new look. He did however strike a pose when Sirius wolf whistled only to schwack awkwardly and ended up flailing when James forced him to do a spin, smacking the boy in the face.  
“Rude.” James told him fixing his glasses “didn't anyone ever tell you violence is never the answer?”  
Remus snorted. “Right. Remind me what you do in your free time?”  
James spluttered “that's not the point! What's with your new look?”  
“Not that it's a bad look.” Sirius leered. “But you seemed attached to your stupid sweaters.”  
Remus glared at him “I am. So watch your stupid face or you'll get slapped too.”  
“Touchy touchy.” Sirius muttered. Trying to not show how remus’s response had cut. He had just been wondering why the sudden drastic change in appearance. And it was a drastic change. Remus had gone from wearing baggy old sweaters and jeans every day to black jeans. A tight black top. Piercings up one ear. A stud in the other. And leather cuff bracelets. 

Remus rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I just felt like a change. “ 

James wrapped an arm around Sirius and Remus as the bell rang , stirring them to their seats. “Yah but why remmy?”

Remus shrugged as best as he was able with James’s arm around him. “I just felt like a change. “

Sirius and James shared a look before James replied. 

“Hey remmy, whenever you're ready to tell us what's going on we're here for you.” 

“Boys take your seats.” The teacher called out, annoyed at the usual delay with them. 

Remus ducked out from under James slouching into his seat as the guilt filled him. They were his friends. He should tell them. But…

Why couldn't they just leave it alone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Remus is still a sweater loving nerd. There will be a scene later of Remus expressing his annoyance at his new look. But no one thinks it's an acceptable action to force tee-shirts on the goth kids.


End file.
